This invention relates to a device to hold open for loading a limp plastic sack having a pair of integral handles.
In an effort to reduce overhead costs, many retail establishments, such as supermarkets, are using, or are considering using, semi-automated systems at the checkout counter. Such systems can eliminate the need for both a cashier and a packer because they permit the cashier not only to charge each article, but to package same immediately thereafter in an opened grocery bag. Such systems involve the use of electronic scanning devices that "read" coded labels printed on each item. Generally, such semi-automated systems work as follows: the cashier picks up the article to be charged, registers its price by passing its coded label by a scanning device, and places it in a grocery sack.
One method of packaging such items involves the use of thin, plastic sacks. In certain markets, such sacks are becoming more popular than traditional paper grocery sacks because they eliminate the need for double bagging, and they are more moisture resistant than paper sacks. However, these sacks are fabricated from thin, plastic materials and, unlike paper sacks, are incapable of supporting themselves when opened. Hence, devices which will hold such plastic sacks open for loading are needed if the cashier is also to serve as a packer.
One sack holder is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,062,170, which shows a holder having upwardly projecting elongated tabs at the upper end of a pair of side walls, each of said tabs having rearward projections. According to the disclosure therein, a plastic sack having a pair of handles is opened, and the handle openings are then placed over the rearwardly projecting portions of the elongated tabs. It has been found, however, that this device has certain drawbacks because the groceries, when fully loaded, cause downward pressure to be exerted on the walls of the sack, which, in turn, exerts downward pressure on the sack handles. Hence, when the cashier attempts to remove the handles from the upward and rearward projections, it may be necessary for him or her to lift the fully loaded sack of groceries to disengage it from the device.